MALAWI: The Constitution Bill & more – 13th Jan 2026

Muli bwanji from BA! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 13th of January twenty twenty-six. A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

Last year, Members of Parliament passed a bill to amend the Constitution Bill so that they can manage the Constituency Development Fund, instead of the Councils. However, last week, President Peter Mutharika refused to sign the amended Constitution Bill so it wasn’t made into law.

Instead, he ordered the Ministers of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, and Finance and Economic Planning, to create guidelines for how the Fund would be managed, to ensure that Members of Parliament do not abuse it or interfere with development projects within constituencies.

People were happy with Mutharika’s order, but they are not impressed with his decision to appoint Henry Mathanga as the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi.

Mathanga used to work for the central bank, but was fired for misconduct. He also has an active financial criminal charge against him at the High Court. There is an uproar among many people, with economic experts saying Mutharika has violated the Reserve Bank of Malawi Act and compromised the integrity of the bank, so much so that Malawi’s discussions with entities like the International Monetary Fund could be at risk.

Such questionable decisions are why John Citizen thinks there is a powerful and influential person running the presidential office.

In one of his latest articles for Nation Online, the journalist questioned how Mutharika could go from making a wise ruling regarding the Constitution Bill, to pardoning six people who were charged with the murder of Lule Blair, a local who died in police custody. Not only does the law prohibit the pardon of criminals with murder charges, but Blair’s case drew so much attention that it is in the hall of fame of Malawian cases.

The State House denied selecting names for the pardon list, and said the Prison Service did. This further cemented John Citizen’s assumption that someone powerful could be pulling the strings behind the government scenes.

You can read Citizen’s piece with the link in the show notes.

In more news from the government, The Ministry of Finance is currently having pre-budget consultation meetings with various stakeholders across the country. Joseph Mwanamvekha, the Finance Minister, opened the talks on Friday the 9th in Lilongwe in the Central Region.

During the opening, he said that the money supply in Malawi increased by 2.7% in twenty twenty-five, instead of the projected 2.8%, because of many factors, including the forex and fuel shortages, and climate-related issues. The 28.5% inflation was also a huge issue in twenty twenty-five, causing high food prices and straining people’s budgets.

Despite these, the government expects to increase the money supply by 3.8% this year, and reduce the inflation to 20.7%.

In foreign affairs, President Donald Trump said the US would withdraw from sixty-six international organizations. According to Al Jazeera, most of these organizations focus on issues of climate, labor, and migration, and promote woke topics like diversity, which do not align with the US government’s America First agenda.

Once again, some of Malawi’s initiatives might struggle because of this move. For instance, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is on the list of entities that the US will withdraw from, causing concern for climate funding and advocacy initiatives.

To learn more about the US’s withdrawal, check out the Rorshok Multilateral Update with the link in the show notes.

Many Malawians do not believe in cremation, but a recently discovered pyre and a new study by the Science Advances journal prove that cremation may have been one of Malawi’s burial practices.

A CNN article said that scientists found Africa’s oldest cremation pyre on Mount Hora in the Northern Region, containing the remains of a woman they believe was cremated 9,500 years ago.

Forensic results showed that this woman is the only one who was cremated there, but they ruled out accidents or murder, because the pyre was built intentionally, and the ash mound in it suggests the fire burned for hours or days, meaning someone kept fueling it.

Some anthropologists think the woman might have been special - maybe a princess - since her remains were the only ones found in the pyre.

To know more about this story, click on the link in the show notes.

Meanwhile, The Tourism Industry is enjoying yet another development, following the addition of a zipline at Mulanje Mountain in the Southern Region. The tourism organization Adventures Feet Malawi said this is an exciting addition that will give tourists and visitors a thrilling way to experience Mulanje’s beautiful landscapes and waters.

The organization told local news that they want to diversify the adventure activities at Mulanje Mountain and provide alternative routes, in case people do not want to hike.

Local news said the development is timely, as it follows Mulanje Mountain’s recent recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In more good news, English-speaking tourists won’t probably struggle to communicate with locals, since a new study said that Malawi is the fourteenth best English-speaking country in Africa, and the eighty-fourth globally.

The twenty twenty-five EF English Proficiency Index assessed data from 2.2 million participants from 123 countries, and declared a tie between South Africa and Zimbabwe as the best English-speaking countries in Africa.

When it comes to global rankings, the Netherlands came in first position, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo came last.

On another note, you could be fined for offloading goods in Blantyre City…

On Wednesday the 7th, the Blantyre City Council released a statement banning transporters, traders, and the general public from offloading goods within the Central Business District between 8 AM and 5 PM, effective on Saturday the 10th.

The statement says they want to reduce traffic congestion and ensure people’s activities are not affected, since offloading vehicles usually block roads and people’s passages. Now, people can only offload goods at night, or with special permission from the Council. If people don’t follow this rule, the Council will refer to the Local Government Act to punish them.

In other news, Airtel Malawi, one of the country’s leading telecommunications companies, launched a scholarship for high-achieving students who struggle to finish their education because of financial issues.

On Wednesday the 7th, local news said that Airtel’s Nzeru Fund scholarship is targeting twenty-five students enrolled at the Malawi University of Science and Technology, where 59% of students drop out because their families cannot afford to pay for their education. The fund will step in and handle the student’s tuition and learning materials, as well as their food and accommodation.

The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority has moved its Head Office from Lilongwe to Blantyre in the Southern Region. They did not say much concerning the move, but simply shared a graphic poster announcing the news on their social media pages on Monday the 12th.

Still, people know it is because of President Mutharika. In previous episodes, we mentioned that, shortly after being inaugurated as President, Mutharika said he would move the head offices of government agencies from Lilongwe to Blantyre, to cut costs and reinstate Blantyre as Malawi’s business district.

Speaking of previous episodes, we have reported that the government released a list of public holidays that the country will observe this year. Well, the first of those holidays will be observed on Thursday the 15th.

The 15th of January is Chilembwe Day, when Malawians honor the life of John Chilembwe, a pastor, educator and freedom fighter who died in nineteen fifteen while trying to free Malawians from Britain’s colonial rule.

You have probably seen Chilembwe’s face on various Malawian Kwacha notes, but you can learn more about him from an eight-minute documentary called The John Chilembwe Legacy.

You can watch it with the link in the show notes.

And to wrap up this edition, last month, we shared that Eli Njuchi, a local musician, cancelled his annual Hive Experience show after his band got involved in a fatal accident.

On Saturday the 10th, Royal Image, which organizes the Hive Experience and manages Eli Njuchi, released a statement saying they had refunded 824 people who bought Standard and VIP tickets for the Hive Experience event. The process was easy, since people purchased tickets to the show using a local e-ticketing service provider.

Royal Image has since encouraged people to reach out to them via email if they have not received their refund.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

Quick question, is there a specific monopoly in Malawi you think is a big problem? Let us know at info@rorshok.com

Pitani bwino!